Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing
by Lord Axxingtons
Summary: 1958. Mondo Oowada's life is directionless, and high school memories leave him bitter. Working in a garage doesn't give you many thrills, and his brother's trying too hard to make him into someone he's not. It's been three years since his last correspondence from his high school flame, Ishimaru, and he never expected to see that face in New York City again. (Sequel to YTOTIW.)
1. Chapter 1

**You don't have to read the first fic to enjoy this, but it would lend some context!**

**Warnings abound for homophobic language/attitudes and implied cissexism in this chapter. **

"No, man, you don't get it. This guy's the real deal. He's the man. Not like the Man, but _the_ man, you know what I mean, man?"

"Man, I ain't known what you been saying for the last twenty minutes." Mondo muttered. "Anyways, I prefer Elvis's stuff."  
"That's for chicks, cuz. They only hang all over him 'cause of those dance moves. Hey, hang on, is that a pink Cadillac out front? Yowzer! Would ya look at the body on that thing? And there's a cute broad in the seat - reckon I'll give her body a look too. Wanna toss for it?"  
"Man, I don't give a fuck. You go."  
Souda Kazuichi gave a toothy grin and hitched up his yellow jumpsuit around his hips, where it was loosely tied in a half-knot, the rest of his body scrawny and shirtless as they sweated it out. It wasn't any kind of sight to get Mondo's motor running - he preferred a little muscle.  
Not that Souda knew that.

Jimmy Lloyd kept cranking on the radio about the rocket in his pocket, and Mondo took a drag of his cigarette as he wiped down the windscreen of the Fiat they were working on with an oily rag.  
He'd always figured that at 21 he'd be thriving, living the high life someplace with his bike and whatever. But maybe it was the lack of substance to that ideal that had led to it never getting realised. He didn't really have a direction, and he sure as hell didn't go to college, not like - not like Ishimaru.  
The name was bitter in his mouth, and he tried not to think on it any more.

"So ya see, Miss Sonia - Sonia, was it? - I can get your engine going no problem. I know all the right ways to handle that machine of yours." Souda was saying to a pert little European blondie who he led back into the garage. He gave an exaggerated wink at Mondo every time he made a double entendre, which was difficult not to roll your peepers at. A lot of things about Souda got pretty exasperating, but work lumped you with whoever it lumped you with.  
"Thank you, Mr. Souda," she replied, barely giving him a look. "I'm going to be so late, I do hope you can help me."  
"Well sure I can, Miss Sonia, sure I can do. Can I ask where you're headed in such a rush? We'd love for ya to stick around, me and Oowada here."  
"Leave me out of it," Mondo mumbled inaudibly.  
"Ah, I have dinner with my husband at seven on Broadway, and I've got to pick him up from the Civic Centre."

Mondo chuckled into his collar. He'd never seen a man deflate so quickly. Souda shot him a furious glance and tugged him into the back corner hastily, with a yell of "Just gotta discuss somethin' with my, eh, associate," over his shoulder, and Sonia daintily took a seat on the grubby stool next to their cash register.  
"Hey, cut it out," Souda murmured, his fist still bundled in Mondo's shirt. "I think I still got a chance."  
"Cool it, daddy-o. She ain't interested."  
"Man, just 'cause you're jealous!"  
"I _ain't_ jealous! I _never_ been jealous of any of these girls you get in and try to make good with, man, so stop makin' me out to be your rival. And stop actin' like a washed up Bronx mechanic like you has a snowball's chance in hell with a rich little princess like that who's already fuckin' married. You're pathetic."

"Is everything all right back there, gentlemen?" Sonia asked rather graciously, considering how loud his voice had risen.  
"Fuck, man." Souda shook his head and returned to her car, subdued. "What fucked you over so bad you get this pessimistic? It's a total drag to hang around you nowadays."  
"Life." Mondo replied sourly, and started polishing Sonia's tail lights.

Rainstorms in New York City caused crowds to congregate under flapping awnings, so Mondo had to wheel his bike straight through a gaggle of old ladies to get out to the edge of the sidewalk. His old faithful Triumph was still going strong, although it took her a while of spluttering and coughing burning rubber before she'd take off.

He revved the Triumph up like an angry wasp as he skidded past businessmen and the occasional hot-rodder on the streets, but without a gang at his back it became harder to intimidate. Still, on the back of a motor was where his heart felt at home. The carnal nature of the thrill of thrusting a dangerous machine forward, gripped tight between your thighs, didn't entirely escape him. The garage shop was a good twenty blocks from his house, so it was with consternation that he pulled over and realised her engine was giving up the ghost.

"God damnit!" Mondo muttered through clenched teeth as he leapt bodily off the high leather seat and crouched down on the sidewalk, shoving his slick head into the equally oily musk of the bike's underbelly to see what the problem was. Some old biddy tapped him on the shoulder and said something sharp about language, to which he snarled "Fuck you, it ain't the nineteenth century no more!".

Somehow, all the streets got painted in a more miserable light under the grey skies, or maybe that was just Mondo's mood as he was forced to roll the Triumph another ten blocks home with only his leather jacket to keep the wash out. The fear and avoidance in strangers' eyes, the way they went out of their way to make a wide berth around him, all of it bubbled up into rage contained within him, and he wondered bitterly why it was that he never seemed to be _happy_ like he used to.

After shoving his bike in the yard, figuring he'd just take her down to the shop tomorrow, he rattled his key loudly in the door before entering to make sure that Daiya wouldn't forget to close the damn living room door if he had a girl around. As both of their bedrooms were stinking rot-filled shitholes, Mondo had discovered the hard, traumatising way that Daiya preferred to keep some semblance of class by fucking his dates on the couch. Luckily, the door was closed, although nothing could shut out the gasps and grunts. Mondo stomped upstairs, finding that as per usual their father was nowhere to be found.  
He half-smiled as he remembered that he'd always vowed one day when Daiya was out to pull the same act without him knowing. It would be sweet, sweet satisfaction to have ground Ishimaru into the cushions of that couch-

But it had never happened.

There was still half a bottle of Bud next to his bed. Angrily, Mondo drank.  
His fingers found the handle of the drawer before he could consciously prevent them, and even though he knew how much it stung every time, he ended up fishing it out again - that neatly folded rectangle of Harvard-branded paper, the fanciest piece of correspondence he'd ever gotten. It didn't leave a good taste in his mouth, and he knew it almost off by heart, and yet still he traced the inky scrawl and read it once over again.

_Harvard College  
86 Brattle Street  
Cambridge, MA 02138_

_Dearest M,_

_I'll bet you're surprised to see this. Didn't I say I'd write you? We may be awful far apart now but don't worry. I gotta come back soon to see Grandpa - and you. Mainly you! Gosh it's pretty "wacko" over here as you might put it. Definitely a far cry from the Big Apple. My roommate's okay although he sure knows how to snore.  
_

_Running outta space but I can save most of my stories for when I come visit. It'll be soon. Gee I miss you and I sure do think about you a lot. College is really opening my eyes to the world around us. There's gonna be change soon, just you wait. Our time is gonna come. _

_You better not be listening to any of that crazy rock music now. Stay out of trouble on that bike. You know I worry._

_All my heart, Kiyotaka._

That was three years ago.  
That was the last he'd heard from him.  
He didn't know how long he stared at that signature, swigging occasionally from the bottle, until he became aware that the repetitive thumping from downstairs had subsided and his brother was yelling his name.  
"Mondo? You home?"  
"Been home half a god damn hour! You was a little busy," he shouted back crossly, even though Daiya had come up the stairs and was now about three feet away.

"Aww, shut up. Just 'cause you never get any."  
"I'd rather keep my distance from those two-dollar whores you bring back with you."  
"Yeah, don't I fuckin' know it."

Abruptly, Daiya was in his room. Mondo flipped over and shoved the letter under his pillow, but he knew Daiya knew what it was. He'd caught him sneaking in and reading it a couple of years back, and had torn his brother a new asshole yelling about privacy. They still never really talked about that stuff, but now Daiya was in Mondo's space, and taking a seat next to him on the bed in a suspiciously fraternal manner. Mondo felt the fright of this _we-need-to-talk_ atmosphere run down his spine, and he knew they were going to be talking about the thing. The thing about him not bringing girls around.

"Listen, dude. I been thinking about your problem, and all. I don't want you to think I'm just rejecting you for it. I'm still your big bro, you know? I oughtta help you out with it."  
Daiya leaned conspirationally close in to his face, and for one laughably bizarre moment Mondo thought his brother was going to kiss him.  
Instead, Daiya muttered low in his ear. "I talked to a coupla guys and they said they know a place to get you started on skirts, ya hear? Start out with this and we can wean you back onto a healthy 'preciation of the female form. Don't think I ain't lookin' out for you."  
Daiya's hand caught his, warm and intimate, and slipped something into it. Mondo swallowed, turned red, shifted. Stared at the little pink square of cardboard that looked like it had been torn out of a phone booth.

_KIMIKO'S BAR - FOR GENTS AND "LADIES"_  
T GIRLS FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT - DANCING - SERVING DRINKS -  
LOCATED IN BROOKLYN - BUT YOU'LL SEE PLENTY OF QUEENS!  
SECRET LOCATION - ASK SOMEONE IN THE KNOW.

There was a little picture of a woman with a mannish face and a lot of makeup on, and Mondo had to say he was baffled.  
"This guy knows the address, so it's wrote down on the other side for you. Go out there sometime, 'kay? Meet some - you know - chicks. We'll get you back on the right track in no time."

Daiya patted his hand, then slapped his back bracingly, standing up, as Mondo sat in silence. "Anyways, I'm gone. Got plans with the guys tonight. Also, someone telephoned for you."  
"Hey, it's stormin' like hell out there, you oughtta be careful" Mondo objected, speaking for the first time in a while. "Who phoned?"  
"Aw, don't you worry so much, you old maid. I know how to handle a motor in any kinda weather. An' I dunno. Some... dude. Wasn't Souda."

He sat up and ignored the question in Daiya's eyes. "This... dude leave a message?"  
"Said to meet him in Glaser's Bake Shop out in Yorkville. I dunno, man. Place likely won't be open this late anyhow. Gotta fly, now, dude, catch you on the flipside. And hey. Remember that card."

Daiya gave a conspirational wink, and before Mondo could protest any more about the abysmal weather conditions, his brother was out the door.  
Yorkville would be a good half-hour even on the subway, maybe more. It didn't seem worth going. Besides, he didn't even know this punk who'd called him. Might even be an ambush by old gang guys, to lure in the fairy boy for a beating. It wouldn't be the first time. In this rain, it sure as hell wasn't worth it.  
And yet something made him want to.

Mondo Oowada threw on one of his dad's old coats over his leather jacket and headed out into the rain.

"You want more soup, babe?"  
"Don't worry about me so much, Aoi. I am perfectly fine. I feel terrible leaving you with all the chores around the shop, though."  
"Don't be silly." Aoi Asahina set down a tray with a bowl of chicken soup and eight doughnuts, which she considered to be a moderate side dish. Wiping glazed hands on her overalls, she leaned in to kiss Sakura's forehead, who was lying flat out in their double bed with a bad cold. "I love fussing over you, and I already swept up and all. Tomorrow's bread is already baking, and I made extra batches of doughnuts, in case our guest gets hungry during the night, and all. I oughtta make him dinner soon, too. Gosh, it feels later than it is. I hate fall darkness!"  
"Knowing our guest and how much he protests our kindness every mealtime, I don't think we have to worry about him eating twelve doughnuts for a midnight snack, sweetheart. That's only you." Sakura smiled tiredly up at Aoi and stroked her girlfriend's face with one calloused palm. "You switched off the lights for closing time?"  
"Aww, crud, knew I forgot something! I'll be right up."

Aoi thudded down the stairs, folding her arms over her apron to cushion the painful bouncing of her ample chest, but paused on the last stair with her heart in her mouth as she saw a tall, intimidating youth in a leather jacket trying to shove the bakery door open, his faint curses audible. She gathered up her courage and went up to the door, making sure that a sturdy rolling pin was within arms' reach, and began to firmly state "We're closed for the night, sir-" when she saw the familiar golden pompadour and gasped, throwing the door open.

"Oowada? No way! Oh my gosh, it's been years! Come on in! How did you know to find us here?"  
"Aoi?" Mondo stared, looking as though she was the last thing he'd been expecting, too. "You run this place?"  
"Oh, for sure! Me and Sakura live upstairs. Come on in from the cold!" She shut the door behind him and took his jacket off for him, and then after a moment's pause they embraced.

"Geez! It's good to see you, Aoi."  
"You too. Who woulda thought my old high school sweetheart would drop by?" she grinned into Mondo's shoulder, and then indicated for him to pull up a chair at one of the sweet little cafe tables, grabbing a pile of cookies for them both. "You haven't changed a bit."  
"Nor've you. So you an' Sakura still, uh..."  
"Yep." Aoi blushed, ducking her head. "You just missed our four year anniversary. I baked up a storm."  
"I'll bet. I can't believe you run a bake shop now. Given up on swimming entirely? I can't imagine Sakura doesn't still do sport."  
"Aww, no, we both still do that stuff on the side, but there's not enough money in women's competitive sports to fund us entirely. But we're happy where we are. Apartment's small, but it's home."

Aoi nibbled fretfully at her cookie, and her eyes flew to the ceiling as Mondo heard someone's boots thumping around. Weird - Sakura may be a giant, but she was a light treader. And was it him or did Aoi look just a little nervous? Before he could ask, she cut off his thought. "So... what are you doin'?"  
"I, uh - well, I work in a garage shop." Somehow, it felt embarrassing to admit. "Still living in the same old shack. Dad's fucked off, but my brother's still around."

"So... Uh, like, not that it ain't good to see you and all, but if you weren't expecting to see us, why'd you come around? I know Mondo Oowada isn't passionate enough about baked goods to travel all the way from the Bronx for this ol' place at six PM."  
"I - well, I got a call. Some guy? Some guy phoned from your place and told me to come here tonight."  
"S... some guy? You didn't know him?"  
"My bro took the call while I was at work. Mighta been a friend, who knows."  
"Listen, Mondo." Aoi bit her lip. "I... I wasn't gonna mention it, 'cause I know how things ended on a bad note with you guys but - but seein' as he called you, you ought to know we actually got someone staying with us-"  
"Aoi, I cain't hear a word you're saying. Who the hell is thumping around so loudly on the st-"

The thumping stopped all at once. Kiyotaka Ishimaru stood frozen in the stairwell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter contains non-detailed description of a loved one's death.**

Mondo's first thought was that he looked remarkably the same. Three years it had been, and although he had swapped out the school uniform and dorky bike shorts for a sweatervest and cords, every detail on Ishimaru seemed unchanged - same strict spiky hairdo, same bulldog punchable jawline, same beads of sweat over intense, reddish-brown eyes.

That explained, he thought dimly, the thumping. Kiyotaka never had a light touch, the big cornball.

Aoi wrung her hands as the two of them stared each other down like planets whose alignments had at once shifted. "I was gonna say somethin'," she began to fret, "Only I wasn't sure-"

"You haven't changed," said Ishimaru suddenly, uncharacteristically interruptive and blank-faced.  
"Nor have... you?" He pushed his hair back with one hand and felt a tidal wave of nausea come upon him. "...You phoned me?"  
"Yeah. I, uh. I hoped the number was still the same. I wanted to catch... up."

Mondo tore his eyes away from that figure before his messed-up noggin could fuck him over any more. It seemed none of the three of them had any idea what to say.

Thankfully, at that moment, a familiar gentle giant silhouette also appeared at the top of the stairway. "Oowada," said Sakura Oogami, gracefully, coming down to put her arm around Aoi's shoulders. "How nice to see you."  
Seeing both girls together in the warm light, Mondo found their time as sportswomen had made them all the lovelier - Aoi sleek and toned like an otter, Sakura tall and grounded as a tree. Their arms found each other in a way so natural he could almost spit with jealousy.  
Aoi glanced up at Sakura and placed a hand on her forehead, going on tiptoe to do so. "You oughtta get back in bed, that fever ain't down yet."  
Sakura stroked Aoi's face in return, a gesture that was organic, but its domesticity felt like a stark contrast to the way he and Ishimaru stood at pointed angles away from each other. "I am feeling much better. Besides, we have company. Let's all have dinner."

"These taters are fantastic," Ishimaru said brightly to Aoi, for perhaps the fifth time. Mondo fought the urge to give him that look, that old look that said "cut the gas, dingus" whenever his boyfriend started running his dork mouth. Aoi smiled politely but wearily, and he wondered if it would be better to just grab his jacket and go home and pretend this never happened.  
"So Ishimaru was telling us," Sakura began, "about Harvard."  
"That's right, ain't you supposed to be there now?" Mondo asked, muffled through potatoes. "I may not go down to the schoolyard no more, but I know April's hard-workin' time."  
Ishimaru finished his mouthful, then sheepishly explained, "I dropped out," - making Mondo nearly drop his forkful of mash.  
"You what? Fuckin' - dumbass, you're a freakin' genius, why'd you do that for?"  
"I was nearly done with my third year but... my grandpa got really ill. He, um, he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. My folks both work; they couldn't hardly never come see him. I spent the past month staying in his house in my old room, spent most days in the hospital. He said he was glad to see me, but I felt bad, 'cause, you know, my dad wouldn't come into the hospital room if I was gonna be there. And, well, his time came up about three weeks ago."  
"Shit," Mondo muttered, the mood having darkened quite swiftly. "Man, I wish I'd known. I'd have paid my respects. That old dude never did me wrong."  
Sakura nodded solemnly, and Aoi crossed her chest. He never took her for a religious type, but you were probably supposed to take that stuff seriously when it came to death and shit.

"Why you stayin' here, then? Your grandpa's house ain't ten blocks away."  
"I was staying there until last week, but - he left the house to my dad. My folks got to sorting out the will pretty quickly. My dad's lawyer gave me a phone call, said I had a day to pack up my stuff. They're, uh, they're selling it off now." Ishimaru gave a pained half-smile. "Wish dad had the guts to at least talk to me in person, but I guess not. So I - I had no choice but to fall on the charity of my remaining acquaintances. I can't thank the girls enough for taking me in. Once I secure a job in the city, I'll find a place to rent."

Remaining acquaintances? And what was he, chopped liver? But no, that thought was irrational. Couldn't give Kiyotaka a place to stay, not with his brother. And clearly, he wasn't the first choice anyhow.  
Still, a phone call might have been worth something.

They finished eating in relative sombre silence, but for the harsh sound of Mondo's spoon scraping peas off his plate. He kept finding himself glancing over his former beau's body - he'd grown taller, hadn't Ishimaru? College seemed to do that to some kids, stretched 'em out like runner beans. He saw a twitch of muscle underneath the t-shirt sleeves, and wondered if Ishimaru was as fit as he used to be. The first time he'd got his hands beneath that shirt he'd nearly hollered in shock, but that boy kept fit back in school, just as diligently as he did everything else.  
_Don't even go there, don't even start,_ his brain told him, as he stabbed angrily at the last peas on his plate. _He stopped talking to you of his own volition. Probably got a nice, sensitive Harvard hipster waiting out east, who's an educated activist and ain't never said anything dumb._

"Been such a while since we all caught up," Aoi said, then interrupted herself "-oh! I think we got ice cream in the cooler! - Why, we must have been at graduation the last time the four of us got together."  
"I remember," said Ishimaru with a vague unease. Mondo burst out laughing as he worked out why. "Oh shit! And you had a few too many beers, and you wouldn't stop singing -"  
"Yeah, I remember, Oowada," Ishimaru snapped, and Mondo stopped talking abruptly.

"I'll get that ice cream," suggested Sakura, at length.

"Mondo, you're working, right?" Aoi said. "Eisenhower's staying quiet about those unemployment rates, but you're doin' well to have a job in this state."  
"Speak for yourself, small business owner! I'm bowled over by this place."  
"You're working?" Ishimaru asked keenly.  
"S'right. Nothing much, just in a garage. I mainly work with this one dude Souda, and he's a pale one. Not a real hoot, but it brings the bacon in."  
"You got your own pad?" Was there anything underlying that question?  
"No, I - still live with Daiya. Savin' up."  
"I-I see."

"Look, Oowada." Ishimaru took a breath in, and Aoi sat back quietly, as if to exclude herself. "We both know we're skirtin' around the past. But I'm just - it's enough for me that you didn't walk out the door soon as you saw me. I been missing you a lot."  
"Me too, you goof," he found himself saying with an awkward tenderness. "I sure did miss you."  
"I know it was only a year we had each other but I don't stop thinkin' about it. This past week staying with the girls, I see how happy they are. We were that happy once."  
"Well, sure, but you-" _You had to stop writing me, never come visit me once, cut me off cold, didn't you?_he'd been about to say, but Sakura at that point returned with a large tub of strawberry ice cream.  
"Now dig in, you growing boys. And you, my girl, you're too skinny."  
"I ain't, I'm big as a whale," Aoi replied. Mondo watched them watching each other. It was an easy affection that hadn't changed in four years. Would it be so hard to have that again?  
No, he told himself, shit was too complicated. But as he took a bite of ice cream and hissed at the ice-burn on the back of his teeth, a warm and familiar hand snaked around his own under the table.

The stars were nearly out, but the fairground was still running, would be until midnight. Bright lights and tinny music - it felt strange to hear Elvis crooning when he knew The King was now in a training bunk at Fort Hood, like an upstanding citizen - and the crowds of people in darkness, it almost felt like they were kids again, and half of him wanted to reach out and take Ishimaru's hand, which had kept a steady grip on his all through dinner. Strange, purposeless touch, and yet it felt right. He glanced over and saw that Sakura and Aoi were arm in arm, but that was all right amongst girls. He and Ishimaru stood on either side of them. Sakura gave a shudder in the cold spring air, and Mondo hastily offered her his jacket, which she gracefully accepted. Maybe, to the casual observer, it looked like a double date, him the chivalrous boyfriend. It was an act the four of them had used to pull, an excuse to all go out together, although at that point he would pretend to be seeing Aoi, as that was the story they went with to their schoolmates.  
"Maybe you should get back inside, Sakura, the cold won't do you good." he muttered.  
"It's nice to get some fresh air. Although I don't think I will go up on the ferris wheel," the girl replied, glancing up at the intimidating wheel, twinkling and ghostly pale against the darkening sky.  
"That was always my favourite, but I'll stay down here with you, darlin'," Aoi decided. "You boys go on ahead. I might buy some cotton candy if the stall's still running."

So it was without really meaning to that he ended up alone on a two-seat carriage with Ishimaru, making a rattling ascent up into the night sky. He glanced Kiyotaka's way and saw him grinning despite himself.  
"You still get fun off these things? It's like we're kids again, huh?" Mondo said, to say something.  
"Tonight does feel that way. We'd never get to go out until dark on a schoolnight, 'cause you were in detention all the time." he smiled. "You've matured, Oowada."  
"Yeah, well - we're grown-ups now. I'm less hot-headed. You are, too, I think."

The wheel had nearly spun them to the top, taking few pauses as hardly anyone was on it this late. But as it did come to a halt, which went on for ten seconds, then twenty, Mondo leaned heavily out of their seat (causing Ishimaru to give a small, startled shriek at the imbalance and grip onto his sleeve) and looked down to the floor.  
"What's going on, bud?" he yelled down to the ride operator, who was looking flummoxed.  
"She's jammed."  
"Give it the goose. Slam the go button hard."  
"I been trying. I'm gonna 'phone the engineer."

"Sheeeeiiiit," Mondo drawled. "Great. We're stuck."  
"We're what?" Ishimaru anxiously pressed. "I - I don't want to be up this high for long." Although he didn't care to admit it, Mondo too felt that the ominous swaying of their little boat in the air would soon set his nerves on edge.

Two small dark shapes on the ground began to wave and call. "You OK up there?" Aoi was shouting. They replied back with shouted reassurances, and tried not to lean over too much, although Aoi stopped talking when the ride operator with a telephone mouthpiece tucked under his chin gave her an angry look and a cut-throat motion.

A few minutes passed in silence. He found it easiest not to look Ishimaru's way, even though he was shivering and the heat of the man next to him was perceptible. The ride operator appeared to be making no progress, yelling something into the phone as the minutes ticked by and the rest of the fairground shut down for the night. A few other workers came by and seemed to look into the control panel but nothing changed apart from a few alarming creaks. Ishimaru was tapping his foot steadily and unconsciously, probably from the cold. Aoi and Sakura still stood below, craning their necks anxiously.

At length Mondo decided enough was enough. "You girls go on home," he called down firmly. "I don't want that cold gettin' worse on our account, Sakura. No, don't even argue!"  
The girls reluctantly complied, leaving the two of them isolated at the top of the world.

With nobody to yell down to, Mondo found himself forced to actually look at Ishimaru, who was pale as a vampire in the starlight and looked somewhat worn down.  
"Reckon I should yell my buddy Souda's telephone number down there?" Mondo attempted to joke. "Dude may be a screwup, but he'd fix this thing in ten seconds flat."  
"He's... probably going to bed at this time, isn't he?" Ishimaru had never been known for his sense of humour.  
"Yeah."

A moment's silence.

"This Souda, you two get on well, then?"  
"Oh, sure. Nice kid. Thinks every girl he meets is The One, though."  
Ishimaru looked bizarrely reassured, and it took a moment to clock why.  
"Jesus! You thought I was hookin' up with him?"  
"I never said that."  
"You were thinkin' it! 'Oh Mondo, he's a flit, bet he's easy with all the guys.' Right?"  
"I never said that," Ishimaru repeated, quietly aghast. "I wouldn't think that."  
"There's been nobody else."  
"Me neither."  
"Well - good."

They didn't look at each other.

"There's the Big Dipper." Ishimaru pointed.  
Mondo squinted. "Thought it was the plough."  
"Same thing. It's Ursa Major."  
"All right, Harvard boy. I know I'm dumb."

The noise from below seemed to have dimmed. It was possible they'd been entirely abandoned, but he didn't want to look down. Everything he could think about was right here.

"I would've liked a letter, you know. Just to say that it was over and you weren't gonna come back. It was hard on me to keep waiting those years."  
Ishimaru looked baffled. "You didn't want anything to do with me."  
"Where the hell'd you get that idea?"  
"I - Daiya told me-"  
He spun around. "_What_?"

Ishimaru took a breath and looked frightened. "I came to visit on my first break. I - your brother answered the door and said you never wanted to see me again. He said - he said if I came around again, or wrote you another epistle, he'd call the police. So I didn't."

Mondo's fingers clenched the plastic seat tight as his bike handles. "Fuck! I can't believe he - fuck! Jesus, you really believed him? I'm gonna - he's a dead man. He's a dead fucking man."

Ishimaru's red eyes were wide. "Then it wasn't true?"  
"Of course not - Ishimaru, I _love_ you! You stupid sap, I never stopped loving you-" his voice was an urgent hiss and they shifted closer together, Ishimaru's hands finding his jacket collar as he whispered "I'm so glad, Mondo-" and he had this boy in his arms again, he could die tonight, right here -

An almighty lurch, and Mondo clung onto Ishimaru as they abruptly swung into motion.  
"Sorry about the wait!" cried a cheerful but tired-looking fairground employee who came into view as they reached ground level. "Had to get the boss in." He saw their hands around each other's shoulders and gave a small frown, causing them to spring apart and mutter about the cold - that was right, the cold.  
"Your girlfriends left you behind, huh? Your ride is on the house, of course, here's your money back. Now you kids get home safe."

"We're not kids," Mondo said vaguely as he stood up and helped Ishimaru out of the seat, the numbness in his butt making itself known.  
"Gee whiz, it's nearly midnight," Ishimaru observed, looking anxiously at his wristwatch. "I never been out this late."  
"That's 'cause you're a big party pooper."  
"I don't wanna trouble the girls having to let me in at this time..."

"Then- come to mine." Mondo knew what he was saying. "Daiya should be out riding all night. We can... have some tea."  
"Tea." Ishimaru agreed, looking a little pink. "At your place."  
"Nothin' wrong with a couple of fellas having tea." As they left the park grounds and found themselves more alone, he allowed himself to sling an arm over Ishimaru's shoulder - friendly-like, casual-like. Never mind that his heart was doing high jumps - it was just tea.


	3. Chapter 3

**All aboard the poorly-written smut train! Woo woo. 1 instance of homophobic slur in this chapter.**

The kettle interrupted Ishimaru's Harvard anecdote with its reedy wail, and Mondo grabbed it hastily, nearly sloshing boiling water all over himself as he filled up the two chipped mugs.

"This place is... well, it hasn't changed a bit." Ishimaru observed, sat at what passed for the Oowada household's kitchen table. "But where's Chuck? He was just a puppy - aw jeez, he didn't check out, did he?"  
"Not in that sense." Mondo placed the steaming mugs down. Tea at midnight felt a little surreal, but so did this entire evening. "Dad took 'im when he fucked off to wherever he went. That's what got me the maddest, ya know? The old man was a germ, but I loved that dog."  
"Ain't that a bite." Ishimaru said glumly. "At least your brother's still around. Hey, I thought he was getting married? What happened?"  
"Ha!" Mondo slapped the table and chortled heartily. "Aw man, you shoulda seen it. She only left 'im at the altar! I remember it word for word, I tell ya." He began to speak in a squeaky falsetto of a strong New York accent. "_'Daiya Oowada, I cain't believe I ever thought I'd settle for a no-good no-prospects biker bum like you!'_ And she walked right off! Guess she saw him in that two-dollar suit we fished out from dad's shit and just realised she could do better. Damn right. Aw, I can't believe I never told you that one. ...Though I guess that was... when we weren't speakin'."  
He sipped. There was a silence.

"Do you wanna start again?" Mondo said suddenly. "Just pretend we never fucked it up?"  
He turned in his seat and gripped Ishimaru's shoulders, voice low. He knew he was talking crazy and could ruin everything, but honestly, what did he stand to lose?  
Ishimaru blinked and swallowed, bright eyes meeting Mondo's in uncertainty before he hesitantly replied. "Just... pick up where we left off, like? Things've changed. I... We've changed. Three years we never spoke. What's to say you don't like the new me?"  
"New you?" What could be new? Ishimaru was a constant.  
"I'm more political now, and less... I'm taller." Ishimaru changed his own tack rather feebly. "I learned new things and I lost some of my vigor. I don't know if I'm still the same person you - fell in love with."  
Mondo furrowed his brow. "I ain't good at gettin' philosophical. Ain't got the jets. But, Kiyotaka... you are still the same person. Who else'd come waltzin' back into this shithole city with a sweatervest and a grin? And I changed too. Maybe not so much; haven't had myself edumacated and gained enlightenment or whatever the fuck they teach you up there. Still a stupid bundie with a motorcycle, still got no smarts and no dreams. But... I loved you so much. You was the best thing that ever happened to me. If we can get that back - even if it doesn't work, we can just try-"  
"I wanna kiss you," Ishimaru interrupted, almost distractedly.  
"Wh-"

And then he was being kissed, hard and gentle, for the first time in three years. Not counting that drunk girl with her shirt off at Daiya's bachelor do. Only this really counted, only this felt real in that way; needing to get closer, needing to get more connected.  
He gripped Ishimaru's sleeves hard and they stood up together, chairs clattering, wrapped at the waist. Warm hands left sweat patches on his leather jacket, and they broke apart. Mondo stared wildly around the room. It didn't feel real, almost, this thing, even though it had been his life to idly kiss this man once, but now it was heart-pounding, brain-scrambling, real wild shit. Here, in his kitchen, this sin.

"You wanna-" He indicated behind him and a thought came out of nowhere, causing him to bark a startled laugh against Ishimaru's mouth. _Always did want to fuck him into the couch just to spite Daiya_. Here was a chance.  
"Baby, sure," said Ishimaru, breathless. Mondo kept laughing even as he pulled him tighter, onto his lap as he collapsed onto the creaking pleather._Baby._ How surreal was this shit? What kind of fucking _fags_ \- but no, now wasn't the time for that doubting and hating himself. Now he could just put that shit aside and relive this. This gentle, serious boy sat astride his lap, making his pants tight. This stupid motherfucker in his sweatervest with a determined expression as he worked Mondo's shirt over his head, messing up his 'do.  
Mondo put out a sweaty arm around Ishimaru's neck and pulled him tight, the other boy kissing breathlessly at his shoulders and chest. Then an elbow went in his eye, he made a "Gurk!" noise, and things became decidedly unsexy as they fell off the couch in a tangle of half-dressed limbs.

Ishimaru picked himself up and stared down at Mondo on the floor, who was rubbing his eye and wincing. "Is this... Could we not take this to a bed?" he asked sheepishly.  
"Ugh... If you think this couch is a heap of shit just wait 'til you see my room, sweetcheeks." Besides, the letter was still in that drawer, and he wasn't sure he wanted those two opposing emotions so close to each other.

"Okay, well, logistically, let's... Gosh, do you even have any lubricant?"  
"You really know how to get a dude's motor runnin' with all this bedroom talk. Lubricant. _Intercourse_."  
"Well, do you? I ain't just... I mean, I gotta go back to the girls in the morning; don't wanna be limping around. Tell the whole world."  
Mondo laughed hoarsely. "I think they'll probably guess what went on anyways when you come crawlin' back."  
"We can at least spare them the grisly details. It's different among women. All soft and... delicate... none of this grunty business." Seeing Mondo's raised eyebrow, he hurriedly blurted "I - I imagine, at least!"  
Mondo screwed his eyes shut. "Lemme just... check. Jesus. I don't wanna be thinkin' about Sakura and Aoi gettin' it on. Weird shit, man. They're our friends."

He ran upstairs double-time and rummaged around in Daiya's bathroom cupboard, retrieving a stomach-turningly grimy little bottle then running downstairs with it held between finger and thumb. "Now I don't even wanna know how many nasty ass broads this has been around, so let's use it efficiently."  
Ishimaru's pale skin grew red as Mondo unscrewed the bottle and retrieved a glob. He began fiddling with his fly and Mondo drew him close. "Let me do that. C'mon. I know I'm no Casanova but... let me try to make this good for ya."

His ex-boyfriend lay down on the couch passively, chest rising and falling slowly, big eyes locked into Mondo's as he crawled over and straddled Ishimaru. Tugging down the other man's trousers, Mondo smiled slightly at what he found. He unzipped his own fly and tugged himself out, half-mast already.  
"Hi there, big boy," Ishimaru breathed headily, making Mondo burst into a fit of brief, inward giggles that he attempted to disguise as coughs. When would this dude learn he couldn't dirty-talk for shit? Choosing not to respond, he pushed their cocks together, making Ishimaru's breath hitch in a light gasp. A brief session of pushing and pulling later, and Ishimaru was straining at him. Mondo pressed down his hands over Ishimaru's, making the other boy lie still, and kissed him, long and soft.  
Their mouths pulled apart with a wet noise. "C'mon," whined Ishimaru. "Come on, don't make me wait."  
"You sure, babe?"  
"'Course I'm sure!" There was that stubborn, captain-of-the-debate-team streak, and Mondo smiled fondly. He wasn't much of a one for role-play and all of that - seemed like too much work for fun's sake - but getting a rise out of Ishimaru was always tempting.  
"You want all of this?"  
"Yes! God!"  
"'Cause I'm gonna give it to ya."

He fumbled below, finding a grasp on the TV remote - that's where the damn thing was! - before cupping a hand each around Ishimaru's firm buttocks and positioning himself. Back in the day they'd been slow and shy (the first time, one finger, then two, and then both got too embarrassed to take it any further so they called it a day.) But there'd been a lot of times since then. Even in the three-year gap... it wasn't like he hadn't lain alone with his fist and envisioned this again. They knew what they were doing.  
A muffled groan came from Ishimaru as Mondo pushed himself in slow and tight. God, nothing was like this. Nobody was like this. Not that he'd ever done it with nobody else, but it wasn't just the sex; it was the way Ishimaru had his hands over his mouth endearingly like he was tryin' to cover his red face; it was the little squeaking noises that were so contrasting to his normally strong baritone voice. He had no idea what he was saying himself, muttering little nothings and profanities as he sweated and worked himself in and out.  
Finally, release came, and Mondo dropped like a dumbbell onto Ishimaru's chest, breathing out. He could still feel the other boy's hardness underneath, but fuck, he was _tired_ and _happy_ and it was like, 1am and he had work the next day, and now all he wanted was to fall asleep like this, even though he'd likely as not get a sore neck in the morning.  
His eyes closed.

Ishimaru shifted underneath. Mondo felt that heartbeat still going fast as a jackhammer against his chest, even as his own slowed to a peaceable rhythm. "Go to sleep, babe." he murmured, muffled against flesh.

There was a pause. When Ishimaru finally spoke, he sounded wide-awake and nervous.  
"...I wanna move in together. Make it serious. I... I love you."

Mondo fell asleep.

**Note: This is on temporary hiatus as I concentrate on uni work and other fandoms, sorry! I should come back to it, though, I got plans.**


End file.
